


Smile

by newdog14



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Chameleon Salt, Gen, Post-Episode: s03 Caméléon | Chameleon, Sad, Salt, Smile, might technically be a songfic but I couldn't say for certain, oni-chan salt, season 3 salt, season three spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 18:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18878725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newdog14/pseuds/newdog14
Summary: All her life, Marinette had been able to get through hard times with a smile.





	Smile

**Author's Note:**

> If you're unfamiliar with the song 'Smile' by Nat King Cole, it's very pretty, and I would highly recommend giving it a listen. I would specifically recommend the cover of it by Mandy Harvey, she has a lovely voice, and that's the version that inspired and fueled this fic.
> 
> Finally, to quote John Paul White, "If you're not sad now you're not sad now you're gonna be."
> 
> I hope you'll still read the fic though.

_ Smile though your heart is aching, _ _   
_ _ Smile even though it’s breaking. _ _   
_ _ Light up your face with gladness, _ _   
_ _ Hide every trace of sadness, _ _   
_ __ Although a tear may be ever so near.

~~~~~~~

Marinette had thought that everything would be fine. The seating arrangements were fixed. Adrien knew that Lila was a liar too. Things were a bit different now, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. Everything would be fine.

The changes were small, at first. Small enough that Marinette didn’t even realize it was happening at first. Maybe Alya took a little extra time to respond to texts, but the girl was busy, it wasn’t anything to be worried about. And sure, Nino had forgotten to actually invite her to one of his gigs, but he’d remedied that when she pointed it out in class. It was fine.

But then the changes got bigger. Kim didn’t invite her to his birthday party. She’d thought he might have decided not to have one this year, but then everyone came in on Monday morning talking about how much fun they’d had. He’d apologized for forgetting her, of course. Marinette gave him the birthday cupcake she’d been making for him since they were five years old, and he said that he felt awful for forgetting her.

She smiled and promised that it was alright. Everyone forgets things sometimes. It was fine.

She noticed it more after that. She’d been planning to see a new film with Alya, Alix, Rose, Juleka, and Myléne; they’d all agreed to go see it together on opening weekend. The weekend came and went, and Marinette thought that they’d forgotten. But then she got a text, a photo of the girls at the theater. With Lila.  _ Girls night at the movies! _

Marinette hadn’t known what to do, the photo had gone out to everyone, and sent off a simple response.  _ Cute! Have fun! :) _

She didn’t get a response. It was fine.

Lila got Adrien to tutor her. Marinette wasn’t sure why he agreed, since he knew the girl lied about everything, but he was nice. So maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. The photo Marinette got latter made something unpleasant coil in her gut, but then Kagami was akumatized and she didn’t have time to dwell on it. And then. And then she heard Adrien scolding Lila for causing trouble for Nathalie and his bodyguard.

“Lila, you can count on me, unless you hurt the people I love.”

The unpleasant feeling was back, and Marinette wondered if Adrien just couldn’t see that she was hurting, or if she just wasn’t important enough for him to care.

“You okay, girl?” Alya asked, and Marinette gave her a bright smile.

“Of course! Are we still on for lunch?”

“Oh, crud, I totally spaced and promised Nino I’d eat with him today. I’m sorry, Marinette.”

“Don’t worry, Alya,” Marinette said, keeping her smile firmly in place. “It’s fine. 

She ate with Rose and Juleka instead, and they had fun, really. Rose had just finished writing a new song for Kitty Section, and Juleka had promised to invite Marinette over to hear it once the band was ready to play it. She never actually  _ got _ that invitation, but she was sure that just meant that they were having trouble with the song. It would be fine.

One day Marinette was left alone for lunch. The class had gone out to eat at some cafe Lila had told them about, the best in Paris. Marinette hadn’t been invited, because the invitation had been sent through the group chat Alya had made for the class and had forgotten to add Marinette to. She’d remembered to add Chloé though.

Marinette never did get invited to join that chat, although Alya had promised to add her right after class that day. Marinette had smiled and told her not to worry, she could wait. It was fine.

That was the day Marinette realized what was happening. Lila wasn’t turning her friends  _ against _ her, she was turning them  _ away _ . So Marinette tried reaching out more. Texting more often, inviting her classmates to the movies or out to lunch or just to the park, and always,  _ always _ , keeping a smile on her face. Even when they said no. They said no a lot. It was fine.

All her life, Marinette had been able to get through hard times with a smile. No matter how bad things were, she could cheer herself up by smiling. Nothing would last forever, and bad times were no exception to that. And really, crying had never helped anyone, so what was the point of it? Everything would be fine, and she could smile in the meantime.

So she smiled, even when her friends would cancel plans at the last minute. She smiled, even though she was spending more and more time alone. She smiled, even as she could feel her heart breaking apart while her friends forgot about her.

She tried to talk to Adrien about it, once.

It took all day before she was finally able to pull him aside from everyone else. But he didn’t really listen, and then Nino called him back over to the main group, and he promised to talk to her later before he left.

“Anyone else notice that Marinette’s a little bit clingy?” Lila asked. 

The comment didn’t hurt, but the agreements from her friends did. But she could be less clingy, if that’s what they wanted. Maybe all the invitations  _ had _ been a little bit too much. She could handle being alone though. It was fine.

Adrien never did talk to her later.

But that was fine too. Marinette didn’t think anything he said would make her feel better anyway, not anymore. She’d be alright, though, because she could still smile. She could always smile.

She still saw her friends every day, but more and more it seemed like they were looking right through her. No one ever greeted her when she came in the room, and more and more they’d ignore the smiles she gave in her own greeting. Lila had started sitting in her seat before class, just to chat with Alya and Nino and Adrien. She’d always move when Marinette came to take her seat, even if it meant cutting a conversation short. Alya never seemed happy to see her anymore, so one day Marinette just smiled and moved to the back instead. 

Alya was actually did give her a smile on that day, so it was fine.

Marinette was alone all the time now. None of her classmates would seek her out anymore, and they always declined Marinette’s invitations. They’d already made plans that day, no matter what day she asked for or far in advance. Mlle Bustier asked her about it once.

“Are you alright, Marinette? You seem like you’re on your own so much these days.”

“I’m okay,” she’d said. It wasn’t the truth, but she liked to hope it would be, and if she just smiled brightly enough no one could tell anyway.

And really, how could someone who smiled so often be anything  _ but _ okay? All Marinette had to do was smile, just smile until things were better. And they would be, eventually.

Everything would be fine.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Everything Will Be Fine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21782425) by [PeppyLongStocking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeppyLongStocking/pseuds/PeppyLongStocking)




End file.
